A 53-year-old Baltimore County woman has been sentenced to life in prison plus 40 years for hiring a hit man to gun down her husband at a gas station, in an intricate murder plot that involved multiple members of her own family.

Karla Porter, of White Marsh, was convicted of first-degree murder, conspiracy and solicitation following the shooting death of her husband, William Ray Porter, at the Towson Hess gas station he owned on March 1, 2010.

A jury rejected claims that Porter concocted the scheme following years of physical abuse, with the couple's daughter testifying saying she had witnessed her father only 'verbally' abusing her mother.

Porter admitted to paying Walter Bishop $400 to 'beat' her husband, denying that she wanted him dead.

However police investigating the death of William Porter - initially suspecting it were a robbery gone wrong - were eventually lead to his wife after a man came forward claiming Karla Porter had 'repeatedly' asked him to kill her husband, which he refused.

The man then approached police out of fear of being named a suspect in the murder investigation.

Life plus another 40: Karla Porter will die behind bars after hatching a plan to kill her husband and following it through. The mother approached tried to contract two men before the third, Walter Bishop, agreed to do the job for $400

Deceased: William Ray Porter was shot dead at the Towson Hess gas station he owned on March 1, 2010. Police initially suspected a robbery gone wrong

Scene of the crime: William Ray Porter was shot here, at the Towson Hess gas station he owned and operated, in March 2010. His wife has been found guilty of his murder for hiring the hit-man that killed him

Elaborate plot: Walter Bishop (centre) was the hit-man hired by Karla Porter (top left) to shoot her husband. However the scheme also involved Karla's sister (top right), brother (bottom right) and nephew (bottom left), all of which have been tried and are serving sentences

The court was told how Karla Porter approached another man as well before finally meeting with gunman Bishop, who was also convicted of first-degree murder.

The murder scheme also involved Karla's sister, brother and nephew, all of which have been previously convicted and are serving sentences, according to CBS News.

Prosecutors at the trial argued that Porter had no remorse for the killing, while the defense argued she was sorry and wasn't a threat to the community.

'There are two different faces of Karla Porter: she's the cold, calculated one she thinks nobody is looking at,' Baltimore County Assistant State's Attorney John Cox said.

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'She's a very manipulative person -- very devious, I think,' Rick Porter, the victim's brother, said after the sentencing.

'It sounds weird for us to say that because she has been in our life for so long, but obviously she has lied and misled us, and she tried to continue this here just to cover her tracks.'

'We're glad the judge finally did see through that.'

Being interrogated: Karla Porter denied ever have seen hit-man Walter Bishop when police showed her a photo of him during her first interrogation. She eventually broke down during the interview, saying: 'I didn't mean for any of this to happen.'

Karla Porter, 53, seen here in a family photo, will now die in prison for hatching a scheme to kill her husband

Footage of Karla's first police interrogation has previously been released.

In the video she is shown a picture of the hit-man she hired, but denies ever having seen him.

Eventually she breaks down and says she 'didn't want any of this to happen'.

She would later change her story, saying: 'I knew that Ray was going to kill me. I just wanted to kill him first.'

This was the line Porter's defense team took in court.

'The gut reaction is we are disappointed by the sentence received by Karla Porter today,' said William Purpura, Karla Porter's attorney.

'(The jury) needed to understand how domestic violence plays a part in what actions one takes to get out of a marriage.

'She testified clearly to the fear she felt throughout her life and fear she felt if she had left him.

'She's the first to say she is sorry this happened and wish it hadn't happened.'

Judge Robert Cahill Jr. said he thought the level of deception before and after the murder was 'remarkable'.

Cahill wanted Porter's sentence to serve as a warning that if you take matters in your own hands in domestic violence situations, you will pay with your freedom.